Reflective Post
You go through life not always knowing where you stand with most people. Not because they don’t care, but because, as humans, we’re not particularly great at expressing gratitude or accepting compliments. So often, we’re left to interpret feelings and relationships through instinct - reading between the lines, hoping we’re getting it right.
If we’re honest, I think most of us carry around quiet questions we’d love to have answered with certainty. For me, they sound something like this:
Did I inspire you?
Did I make you feel seen, appreciated, and supported?
Was I a good leader or boss for you?
Do you feel you can rely on me?
Are we good?
Do you wish we could’ve spent more time together?
Was I there when it really mattered?
Am I someone you trust?
Do you think well of me?
Do you celebrate my wins like I do yours?
We all want to know whether the way we move through the world, the way we show up for people, actually lands the way we hope it does. But life doesn’t usually give us those kinds of clear answers. So we do our best. We keep showing up, hoping that how we live and love speaks for itself.
Every now and then, though, life gives you undeniable signs that you’re on the right path.
For me, a couple of recent moments have left no doubt in my mind about the kind of impact I’ve had, and the kind of people I’m blessed to have in my life.
The two people most responsible for my health journey over the past year, besides my loving wife, are Christopher Kidawski and Titus Jean.
I met Chris about four years ago when i recruited him to run wellness retreats with, and Titus about a year and a half ago when I first moved to Miami. What started as professional relationships - me as their client - turned into genuine friendships.
Recently, Chris and his wife Andrea asked me to be the godfather of their newborn son, Carden James. We text each other on nearly a daily basis on every subject under the sun. He continues to oversee my body in terms of pain and overall health, but it’s the friendship that cherish the most.
And Titus, in addition to the thousand amazing things he’s already done for me including giving me a new body I can be proud of, offered as a personal favor to take my brother under his wing while I’m in France, helping him turn his health around. Under Titus’s guidance, my brother has already lost 30 pounds in just 30 days. Titus walks with him every morning before dawn, and again after sunset. If that’s not incredible friendship, I don’t know what is.
Moments like these, where trust and kindness intersect, remind me that maybe I’m doing something right.
Another powerful reminder came from two former coaching clients who got engaged and became dear friends: Akshay Nanavati
and Melissa Nanavati. They asked me to officiate their wedding next month - something I’ve now been honored to do four times. Each time, it leaves me humbled beyond words.
To make it happen, I’ll need to miss my last three days of cooking school and fly all the way from Paris to Arizona and back, but it’s a no-brainer. The honor speaks volumes about our friendship, and I’ll show up with maximum effort, cheerfullness and humility.
These gestures, these unmistakable signs of trust, respect, and connection, reassure me that I’m living my life the right way. They remind me that the work I do, and the way I treat people, truly matters.
This isn’t a post fishing for compliments. I’m not an insecure soul. It’s just a reflection and something I felt inspired to write about this evening because I know many of you have these same quiet thoughts from time to time.
One of the most important questions I hope to answer before I leave this earth is simple:
Did I do the job?
Someday I’ll share what that means to me. But for now, I’ll just say this: when the time comes to answer that question, it’ll be moments like these — the love, trust, and shared humanity — that will help me say yes.
Photos: Chris and my godson Carden in Hawaii last month (he already loves sunsets like me!). My buddy Titus, looking his Miami fittest and best. Dude is s year older than me. Remarkable! And the soon-to-be-wed Akshay & Melissa.
